An EU regulation adopted by Ireland has already altered the form of divorce the Irish people voted for in the 1995 referendum, according to the leading Irish expert in this area.
He was responding to Government assurances that there had been no change in Irish divorce law, and would be none, despite Ireland's opting into an EU regulation known as "Brussels II" in 2000.
"Brussels II introduces a 'quickie' divorce for those able to afford to establish residence abroad. There is now a two-tier divorce system here," said Geoffrey Shannon, head of family law in the Law Society's law school, and a lecturer to judicial conferences across the EU on the implications of this regulation.
He said the Brussels II regulation accepted by Ireland in 2000 undermined the constitutional position on divorce.
Meanwhile, Government Ministers moved yesterday to give assurances that there would be no harmonisation of EU divorce law in the light of a Green Paper from the European Commission on cross-border divorce, reported yesterday in The Irish Times.
The Green Paper outlines problems with Brussels II. This allows each party in a marriage, where the parties are of different nationalities, or live in different countries, a number of choices about where they have their divorce application heard.
The EU will not be allowed to interfere in Irish divorce laws, the Taoiseach said yesterday.
Mr Ahern said Ireland's divorce law was protected under the new EU constitution and would not be affected by the new EU proposals. Speaking in Madrid, he said: "The European Union has no say in these matters, in other words, it's none of their business. Irish divorce law is a matter for Ireland."
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen also said in the Dáil that there would be no change in Irish divorce law arising out of any EU proposals.
Yesterday the Department of Justice issued a statement, in question-and-answer format, responding to The Irish Times report. According to a Department of Justice spokeswoman, there was a debate in 1999 on the principle of opting into the negotiations on a draft of the regulation. She acknowledged that the debate did not go into the details of what was proposed.
In its Green Paper published earlier this month, the European Commission outlined a series of scenarios where problems could arise for inter-national couples, and offered possible answers.
It asked all member states to respond with proposals to resolve these difficulties by the end of September.
In its statement, the Department of Justice pointed out that one of the possible options suggested was to do nothing.
It also pointed out that Ireland could opt in or opt out of any proposals made in this area, and that the suggestions related only to divorces with a cross-border dimension, not to domestic divorce legislation.
Mr Shannon acknowledged that Ireland could opt in or out of any measure, but he pointed out that the State had already opted into the regulation that had given rise to the Green Paper, Brussels II, with major implications for our divorce regime, without holding any debate.
"A regulation, once made, is effectively irreversible," he said. "Its substance was not discussed when we opted in."
He said there were now three regimes in Irish law for the recognition of foreign divorces.
The first was the common law position, which operated prior to 1986, when a divorce was recognised if the couple was domiciled in another state and obtained a divorce there.
In 1986 an Act was passed putting the recognition of foreign divorces on a legislative basis, still based on domicile in another state. Domicile is strictly defined.
Under Brussels II an Irish person can seek a divorce in another jurisdiction, under its divorce laws, if he or she establishes "permanent residence" there. This is a much easier to establish than domicile.He said the divorce cannot be revoked if the claimed residence later turns out to be fraudulent.
The Irish Times understands that there are at least two divorce cases before the High Court at the moment where the provisions of Brussels II are an issue.